Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter6

Chapter 6: Who Stands in the Way?

Part 1

World domination complete!!

“Sigh, this is basically perfect. Why don’t we just stay in this world forever?” said Mikoto.

“Have you forgotten we’re both having an out of body experience while close to death? It’s been a month since that propane tank explosion, so who knows what’s happening to our bodies back on Earth,” said Shokuhou.

Yes, they couldn’t just lie around in bed inside the superpower’s enormous castle.

Mikoto shook off the temptation to go back to sleep and got out of the truly king-sized bed. The castle’s butlers and maids would pamper her more if she let them, so she had to reboot herself.

Which meant…

“We’ve defeated the three Demon Lords and gathered the three treasures, so now we need to research the big ceremony necessary to send us home.”

Demon Lords. Ceremony.

The words left her mouth so easily but hearing herself say them felt so strange. She had to tell herself that was just the kind of world this was. She managed to accept the reality before her eyes by telling herself this world had some kind of technology called magic and that it might be based on familiar science if she pursued it far enough. She had a feeling it would end badly if she didn’t leave that barrier in place.

This world’s largest superpower had existed on the Tir na nOg Continent.

The castle’s library was also the largest in the world. If they were doing research, this would be the best place.

Since Patissiet would climb on top of the bookcases (in her short skirt) if left to her own devices, Mikoto grabbed the elf by the scruff of the neck to keep her on the floor.

“Three treasures ceremony. Does anything here talk about the three treasures ceremony?”

They appreciated all the knowledge gathered in the library, but too much knowledge could be a problem of its own. Without anything like a search engine to quickly find what they wanted, it could end up taking a full day to find a relevant passage.

They found some familiar faces there: the young slaver who Patissiet had originally served, as well as the guild receptionist and mayor who had been planning to kill the elves in that village.

Mikoto gave them a “what are you doing here?” look and received an answer from the flashy young woman who used wind magic.

“With the abolitionist movement picking up speed, the elves are learning to enjoy the finer things in life. Which means an increased demand for goods. This might just be a great business opportunity.”

“True, and no one will stop you from making money if you do it in a way that establishes a beneficial cycle. I hope this has been a good lesson ability for you☆”

“By the way, you brainwashing goddess, you had better not be lying about restoring my talent for business if I help you search through all these books!”

That Dancer Mikoto stuck out her tongue with her back turned suggested that probably wasn’t happening.

In the end, it came down to people wanting to side with the winners. Mikoto and Shokuhou’s defeat of the Tir na nOg superpower had greatly changed things.

Shokuhou could run some form of a search by reading the residual thoughts in the books and bookcases, but it would still take her some time.

And Patissiet was the best at this kind of slow-going work.

Mikoto could only get a general idea of what the text said like she was decoding Morse code or braille, but the elf could fluently read this world’s language, which made her a lot faster.

Patissiet did not actually read each of the thick books cover to cover. She would get a general idea of what the author was trying to say from the title, the table of contents, the opening pages, and the final pages. It was a lot like figuring out the topic and contents by filling in the blanks, but it was honestly impressive. Mikoto wanted to learn this skill for the book reports she was forced to write for school during summer break.

“Oh, this could be it.”

The elf’s face lit up.

She found it so quickly it sort of frustrated Shokuhou who could essentially cheat by reading the residual thoughts with the remote she pulled from her handbag.

“The three treasures ceremony is done at the Strange Underpass Cathedral. Each of the treasures is very important, so I don’t know where else you would hold a magic ceremony using all three of them.”

“Strange Underpass?”

“?”

With a name like that, it might refer to a secret passage between worlds. If so, this was another example of very on-the-nose naming.

But there was no point in complaining about this world’s names at this point.

“Where is that cathedral?” asked Shokuhou.

“At the very top. The only floating land at Layer 11 is the Strange Underpass Cathedral. I have never been there of course, but I would expect every single person in Celesaqphere has heard of it.”

Part 2

They had already achieved world domination.

From Layer 1 to Layer 10, Mikoto and Shokuhou could use all equipment from from all facilities from all kingdoms from all floating lands.

Now that they had the three treasures and could perform a search with everything this world had to offer, nothing prevented them from preparing for the three treasures ceremony at the Strange Underpass Cathedral.

It helped a lot that they had freed the elves, succubi, sirens, and other races.

That meant they could gather the knowledge and materials scattered beyond human-controlled territories.

Yes, with the appropriate knowledge and techniques, it was possible nonhuman races could also steal or buy books and treasures.

(I’m so glad they aren’t all arguing with each other.)

Mikoto had boosted Patissiet and the others to the level cap of 9999, so the humans could no longer capture the elves and other monsters and then treat them poorly. And while all the attention was on the long-lived Level 9999 group, the younger generations of monster girls could level up without anyone exploiting them, allowing the nonhumans to maintain their superior position indefinitely.

Once Mikoto and Shokuhou left, what happened during the next era would be up to the Celesaqphere natives. But while Patissiet and the others had a concerning lack of condemnation of the slavery system itself, it didn’t look like the elves would actively retaliate against the humans. They were a peaceful race as long as they were left alone.

The elves had had accepted the harpies, tengu, and many other races without issue, so it seemed likely they could get along with humans too.

Their integrated army itself was proof that racial differences were no reason to eliminate each other.

“By the way, Shokuhou, is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That the elves speak with their long ears as much as their mouths.”

Even now, Elder Bakerian and little Patissiet were conversing a short distance away. Were they working out the details of the three treasures ceremony?

Shokuhou pointed at them.

“It is. But it isn’t anything too complex. It’s more like Morse code ability. The number of times their ears move up and down signifies a letter and a twirl of their ears signifies the end of a letter.”

“I see, I see.”

“So right now Patissiet is smiling and saying, ‘Who does that violent electric girl think she is talking down to us when she’s so flat?’”

“Huh!!!?”

“See, Bakerian just looked our way. ‘Get too close and she will absorb your boobs. To be safe, don’t even look her in the eye.’”

“It’s not a curse, so I can’t just take your size away from you! As much as I’d want to if I could!!”

“Pff. These elves are mean when they know we can’t hear them. But I do see where they’re coming from given your you-know-whats are so you-know-what. Oh, look now. That ear movements means, ‘I do feel sorry for her. They’re just so small.’ Ah ha ha! Misaka-san, your measurements ability is so bad even a little girl like Patissiet pities you!”

“…”

“ ‘Don’t worry. Unlike her, yours will grow with time.’ ‘I hope you’re right. I don’t want to end up like her.’ ‘An adult woman with a chest that flat is actually quite a rare thing, so just ignore her as an extreme outlier.’ ‘If you say so.’ Are these elves brutal, or what!? ...What’s wrong, Misaka-san? Wh-why do you look so angry? At me, I mean?”

“Did you really expect me to buy that? I’ll ask them and if I find out you were lying, I’m grabbing those boobs and tearing them right off of you.”

Shokuhou Misaki wildly crossed her hands to try and gesture for the elves to back up her story (while Mikoto dragged her over by the collar), but the elves only tilted their heads cluelessly. Her attempt at communication had failed miserably.